calixipediafandomcom-20200214-history
Morio
“Old Arazi used to claim he saw the secret docking bay, where they loaded the bodies of dead coglovers for transport out of the system. He could never find out why.” –Terian Oltsweet, dockyard rating Far away from the Lathe Worlds, hidden in the flickering light of the Halo Stars, sits a tiny system. It consists of a simple, pale red dwarf star, barely able to keep itself alight in the void. Around it a single planet orbits, a ball of rock and cold mud whose name is listed only on a few ancient star charts, as Capulus. The planet itself is unassuming and of little interest for mining or colonization. No more than a collection of dirt with little atmosphere or water, it has nothing that would attract any looking for wealth or power. Even its single moon seems, at first glance, to not be worthy of any effort. The moon is in an unnatural orbit, such that it is always on the dark side of Capulus, so no light from the feeble star ever shines directly upon the moon’s icy terrain. As it glides alongside Capulus, it seems to be hiding itself, afraid to come into the light and allow its secrets to be known, and that is exactly how the Masters of the Lathes want it. For on the little moon, known in stories and rumors as Morio, the Mechanicus hides one of its most unsettling secrets. The dusty plains of Morio have no real atmosphere to speak of, its entire surface mostly exposed to the vacuum and cold of the void. The side of the moon that faces away from Capulus is scarred from ancient collisions with asteroids and space debris. There are no signs of past or present life on this side, either alien or human. On the side facing the planet, Morio is covered with the lights and spires of a staggering hive city, larger than almost any other in the entire sub-sector. Here, the towers and cathedral-factories of the Machine God climb majestically beyond the surface of Morio, as well as burrow deep within it, nearly to its long silent, cold core. This is the Sepulchre of the Adeptus Mechanicus for all of the Calixis Sector. When any of the Omnissiah’s followers fall in the Calixis Sector, all possible care is given in trying to get the remains of the fallen to Morio. Ancient, sarcophagal crypt ships make passage through the treacherous Warp routes between the Dominions of the Lathes and Morio, carrying their precious cargo. Once they have arrived, the bodies of the deceased are brought down to the moon in waves of short range cargo craft. While basic servitors do most of the actual labor, there are those of the Adeptus Mechanicus whose duty it is to prepare their fallen brethren and to administer the final rites of the Machine God. Known as the Mortifers, these humble brethren have several duties to perform before allowing their charges to rest. This is not only the cemetery world for the followers of the Machine God in the Calixis Sector, it is also where the Mechanicus take back and refurbish the cybernetics of those who have fallen, so that they may be offered to upcoming generations of Tech-Priests. The Sepulchre is the next step not only for the remains of the followers of the Omnissiah. Here the fleshy remains of the fallen are processed into corpse wafers, to be used in religious observances of the Adeptus Mechanicus. It is also the main reclamation point for the detached bionics and cybernetics, so that they can be used once again by others in the Adeptus. Building and maintaining cybernetics is a time and resource consuming task that also becomes more and more difficult every year, as those with the knowledge to create or maintain such wonders die without passing on that information to the next generation of Tech–Priests. Reclaiming these cybernetics and using them for training purposes, or to augment others who seek the perfection of the Omnissiah, allows the Mortifers to reduce the need for current resources. It also serves a more holy purpose, allowing a line of ascension within the Adeptus Mechanicus to continue far beyond the span of even the eldest of Magos. Worthy Tech-Priests might gain the mechadendrites of a famous Logos from within the system, or receive the same bionic eye that once spied the pacification of Calixis. But there are other reasons why the Mechanicus hide the Sepulchre. Knowledge is power, and here is where knowledge is preserved and used to grow the power of the Cult Mechanicus throughout the Sector. For Morio is also where the memories of the fallen are stored, so that they may be kept from oblivion. In the farthest recesses of the Sepulchre, the Mortifers and their servitors stubbornly work on their great task. They administer and maintain ancient cogitator systems and arrays, far more complex and delicate than anything known currently within the Calixis Sector. Here the Mortifers connect the cortex implants and cybernetic synapse overlays of the fallen to this gigantic system, known as the Cenotaph Calixia. The accumulated knowledge and experiences of the now-dead Tech-Priests are retrieved, so that they can be accessed later. Currently, the ability to retrieve and utilize such information is rudimentary at best, but near-heretical experimentation with the holy machinery has allowed for greater efficiency in recent years. Dark whispers of what the Mechanicus might do with such concentrated knowledge scatter across the cognoscenti of the Sector. Stories among the Mortifers tell of outsiders who were caught investigating the Cenotaph being placed into the ancient oubliettes of the moon, never to be seen or heard from again. Nothing can be allowed to halt the great work from continuing, and one day the Sector will see its grand results, and know the glory that every true Tech-Priest already believes. 'Caretaker Ganash' No one knows how old Ganash truly is, or even if this is his real name. He has toiled on Morio longer than records exist, and some say in half-jest he was already on the moon when the Cult Mechanicus arrived to establish a new cemetery hive. As time passed, he rose in rank as the hive transmogrified into the Cenotaph, the moon became the central repository for the accumulated knowledge of the Mechanicus in Calixis. He slowly began the implementation of his programs to recycle the cybernetics of the dead, turning it from more local procedures and into a sanctified rite under the direction of his Mortifers. He is now and ever shall be the Caretaker Eternal, seemingly as endless as the moon itself. Ganash is a gaunt and pale thing. What little flesh remains between the voluminous, ancient black robes and the long-dulled surgical metals of his cybernetics is tight and waxen from age and neglect. Most suppose that his frame and demeanor have become shaken with age and the burden of his duties, but none can recall him any other way. Despite the little care Ganash may have for his own fragile shell, his care for those who have come to Morio and the Sepulchre on their final trip is obvious. He handles his charges as if cradling the most precious of treasures. The creation and care of the Cenotaph Calixia, and his fevered desire to use it to save the knowledge of his fallen brethren from oblivion, is commendable. A worried few within the Holy Ordos wonder what the Adeptus Mechanicus will do with such a vault of knowledge once they are able to successfully and safely retrieve information from it, and what Ganash will do with the kind of power that comes from such a feat. Category:Moons Category:Cemetery Worlds Category:Adeptus Mechanicus Category:Halo Stars